The Secret Ingredient
by Ajalea
Summary: Sanji's birthday is near and Luffy has thought of a plan to surprise his friend and everyone is going along with it. (This is probably going in a different direction than you expect xD) A (late) bday fic for Sunshinesthroughtheclouds/Ventusio :3


**AHAHAHAHAHA, this was so much fun to write! :D I don't really have much to comment on it actually, I only want to thank my beta, Dominique, wish one of my best friends a happy birthday, and please enjoy the show ;)**

**Have a (late) Happy Birhday, Sunshine-chan~ :3 **

* * *

Zoro looked again at the piece of paper in his hands.

_Come to Nami's place upcoming Sunday (March 1st) at 2. Don't tell Sanji. _

He recognized Usopp's neat handwriting and Zoro didn't get why they had to be so secretive about him coming over.

Only an hour late (he had suddenly felt like taking a walk and the streets kept moving anyway), Zoro arrived at his destination and he rang the doorbell.

The door opened, revealing Nami, wearing a dirty apron, her face covered in some sort of white powder. Her orange hair, tied up, hadn't escaped the white horror either and showed some light colored strands.

He stared expectantly at Nami until she had enough.

"Come in then." She said as she pulled Zoro inside. He stayed silent until Nami brought him to the kitchen. In there, they were noticed by the three working in various places. Usopp, Chopper and Robin all greeted Zoro before returning to their work.

Zoro looked at Nami. "What is this?" He asked her.

"Our present for Sanji of course." Nami answered, making Zoro cringe at those words (he totally hadn't forgotten it was almost Sanji's birthday!) and Nami turned back to mixing the batter she had probably been working on when Zoro arrived. He looked over her shoulder, following the mixer with his eyes. It took her a few minutes to get irritated by it.

"Luffy's in the living room, please make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She sighed, waving Zoro away. He got the message and left the kitchen to find his friend.

Before Zoro had the chance of actually doing so, Luffy had already found him. He had only barely set foot in the hallway when he was tackled by a lump of arms and legs.

"Zorooo!" Luffy yelled in his ear, making Zoro turn away his head from the sudden noise.

"Happy to see you too, Luffy." Zoro smiled, ruffling the black hair.

Luffy frowned and patted Zoro's hand away. "Usopp and the others won't let me in the kitchen." His mood visibly saddened.

Zoro walked through the hallway with Luffy still clinging to him. "Let's find something else to do then, shall we?" He offered.

Luffy grabbed the doorpost of the right room. If he hadn't, Zoro would have walked right past it.

"I remember Nami has a Wii." Zoro mumbled more to himself than to Luffy, skillfully ignoring his own mistake.

Finally, Luffy stood on his own feet, already jumping around again. "I know what game we're gonna play."

Zoro sighed and had to agree with himself that keeping Luffy busy was the best option of two evils, so he went along with it, even though he already knew what they were going to play and how much of a failure he was at it. Luffy didn't care about Zoro, he was happy he had someone to play with.

The first race went as expected, just like the second. Even when Zoro tried to keep his eyes on the road on the screen, he managed to fall of the course at least four times a lap, resulting in him coming last every race. He continued playing though, for the sake of keeping his friend busy. And maybe a tiny bit because Zoro didn't want to find out what Nami would do to him if Luffy would rampage. Especially in the kitchen.

A few hours later, the four people who had been working their asses off, emerged from the kitchen, all covered in all kinds of baking products and looking very tired.

Nami dropped herself on the couch next to Zoro, who looked up from their race (he'd lost count after the first cup and frankly, he didn't care).

"So, what's the plan? What do you need me for?" He asked Nami, who rolled her eyes at him.

"You know it's Sanji's birthday tomorrow, right?"

Zoro tried to keep his poker face up. Of course he knew when Sanji's birthday was, only he hadn't realized that day was so soon already. He nodded, staying silent.

Nami grunted even harder. "Right. Anyway, we wanted to give Sanji a homemade cake with a present inside of it. Franky's been busy working on something to put the cake on and he promised to make it flashy, while Usopp, Chopper, Robin and I have been baking cake for two days straight. And Luffy…" Nami looked at the boy, trailing off.

He was still busy finishing his game. He passed Zoro's avatar for a second time, nearing the finish line.

"Luffy thought of the idea, so he doesn't have to do anything. Brook will take care of the music, as always."

Zoro frowned. He hadn't heard his name anywhere along Nami's words. "And where does that leave me? I suppose you have something planned for me too."

Nami grinned hearing that. "Of course! You'll be the main act of the show!"

"I will be what?"

"Usopp, go grab that package that Robin brought with her and give it to Zoro, please." Nami ordered.

"Usopp did as he was told, but his scared expression alarmed Zoro that he might be in a bit of trouble.

"Please don't kill me." Usopp whispered to the green-haired man.

"Why would I-" Zoro got cut off when he opened the brown paper-wrapped package and revealed a pair of bunny ears and an almost thong-like type of clothing with a bunny tail attached to it.

"No way!" Zoro yelled as he threw them through the room. They fell on the floor with a soft thump after hitting a wall.

"Yes way!" Luffy laughed.

Robin was the one to pick up the pieces from where they had fallen down.

"What a shame, and they were expensive too…" Her words were spoken softly, but judging anyway.

"Zoro, we all know you're going out with Sanji." Chopper suddenly announced.

Zoro's eyes widened in surprise.

"You two are not as good at being secretive as you both think." Chopper shrugged.

Zoro was dumbfounded by the little guy's words. If he ever had expected someone to say anything about this subject, Nami would be his first guess. And Chopper his last.

"Chopper's right. We found out months ago." Nami adding to Zoro's pain.

Meanwhile, Usopp had hid himself behind Robin, afraid of the wrath that might come, but Zoro remained surprisingly calm. He hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment, not reacting to the teasing of his friends that came after that.

Nami and Luffy joked about how stupid Zoro was for not noticing they knew and ever Usopp dared to join.

After a few minutes, the teasing died down and Zoro had to chance to study the others' faces through his fingers. Or that was what he intended. Through his fingers, his eyes were drawn to Robin's hands. She was still holding the thong with the bunny tail, the hairband with the ears and a bowtie that Zoro didn't see before. It looked like Robin had gotten it from some kind of stripper…

He gave up. Zoro, master of the sword, gave up.

Robin noticed what he was looking at and reached out her hands. Quickly, he grabbed the items, his cheeks red in awkwardness.

"Fine." Zoro snarled in defeat. "When do you want to give it to him?"

Nami grinned, her victory obvious. "Tonight actually. I've asked Sanji to come over tonight to celebrate his birthday. I have to work tomorrow, so I can't come anyway."

Zoro face darkened even more.

"Shishishi, it will be fine!" Luffy spoke behind Zoro. To add to his words, he gave Zoro two firm pats on his back.

Zoro made a pained noise, causing the raven to stop.

Chopper approached the bunny victim. Apparently, he was to one to give Zoro his instructions, probably because Zoro couldn't stay mad at the little guy, no matter what he did.

"Zoro, please come with me." Chopper grabbed Zoro's hand, so he had to follow him.

"Have fun you two." Nami waved. "We'll see you tonight."

Chopper led Zoro to a small spare bedroom, where he explained what Zoro had to do for tonight. After that, he left him alone to change outfits (Chopper had brought along a bathrobe so Zoro wouldn't catch a cold), with the message that someone would bring him dinner soon.

Zoro sat down after Chopper left, not knowing what to do until he had to hide in that cake. Chopper had said that Nami didn't want to see him going anywhere in case he got lost and the whole surprise would be blown. Zoro kind of understood why Nami had said that, though he wouldn't admit that to her face. Not even if his life depended on it.

A few minutes of pondering later, he just let himself fall on the bed, intending to take a nap.

* * *

Sanji arrived at Nami's house way after dinner. He'd come straight from his job at the Baratie and even though it had been a long day, Sanji had enjoyed himself today and he had been happily surprised when Name had asked him to come over to celebrate his birthday a day early. She didn't say anything about the others visiting too, so Sanji figured it would be just the two of them.

He rang the doorbell, humming a familiar song. Before the door opened, Sanji heard something heavy fall on the floor and a door being thrown shut.

Nami came out, wearing a big smile on her face.

"Come in, come in." She gestured.

Sanji returned her smile. "Good evening, Nami-san."

Nami led him straight to the living room, where he was surprised by Robin sitting on a couch.

"Good evening, Sanji." She nodded in his direction, looking up from the book she was reading.

"A very good evening to you too, Robin-san." Sanji bowed. "To what do I owe the pleasure of both your presences?"

"I told you, didn't I? I want to celebrate your birthday." Nami said.

"And I simply wanted to join." Robin smiled. "Please have a seat." Her free hand showcased the free spot next to her.

Sanji quietly – but happily – sat down, closely watching what the two ladies were doing. Robin was reading her book again while Nami disappeared for a second to get him something to drink. She returned with a bottle of wine and three glasses.

"Your present will arrive shortly." Nami announced, pouring the wine.

"Okay…" Sanji responded. He knew Nami had been planning something and now he was really curious about what exactly the surprise would be.

* * *

Zoro was thinking how bad his karma must be to have ended up in this situation. Rethinking his life-choices probably wasn't the best idea at the moment, but he was extremely bored. He'd been sitting inside the goddamn cake for over an hour now, waiting for the signal he could come out. Right now he was even _looking forward_ to it jumping out.

About ten minutes ago, he heard Sanji ring the doorbell and he guessed the moment was near, but it seemed Nami wanted him to be stuck for a while longer.

When Franky had come to get him, Zoro was ready to do the thing. In the time he was alone (and awake), he'd been contemplating if he should run or not. If he did though, and Sanji would find out, he'd never forgive him. Zoro decided he would do it for Sanji and for him only, not because Nami thought it was a hilarious idea.

The cake was standing in the kitchen. Franky truly had made a masterpiece. Only a small part of the end result was made out of cake. To make it possible to move the whole thing to the living room, Nami had given Franky the maximum measurements to let it fit through the doors and he had gladly used those.

Usopp had been the one to help Franky paint everything and that clearly showed. The design was simple but pretty. Cake was covered in light blue fondant, decorated with white swirls. The wood was painted in a darker blue, but the swirls were all the same.

Zoro had to admit that the entire thing looked very realistic. Usopp had done one hell of a job and Zoro made a mental note to compliment him after this was over.

It was dark inside the cake, or in the wooden part to be exact, but not pitch black. Chopper and Franky had made sure that Zoro would be able to breathe and the in the bottom let through some light. Vaguely, he could distinguish a few spotlights that were ready to be lit and a bottle of water that was already half empty. The last noticeable thing present, besides Zoro of course, was the pole in the middle of the small platform he was currently sitting on. He didn't know that pole was included in the plan, but in the end, he didn't reject the idea. If he was going to embarrass himself, he'd make a show out of it too.

Once the music would start, the platform was supposed to move up, revealing Zoro in all his greatness. Zoro didn't exactly know how, but Franky had made it work. He even showed it before Zoro got in the cake and he was really impressed by it. He'd commented that he was glad not to be afraid of heights and Franky had agreed.

A sound made Zoro abandon his thoughts. From the outside, someone small approached. Chopper.

"Zoro, are you ready?" He asked with a concerned tone in his voice.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Zoro sighed. He changed positions to wake his sleeping legs. It would be time to stand soon, after all.

"Okay. We'll roll you over then."

Someone else walked into the kitchen and judging from the way they walked, Zoro knew it was Usopp.

"Just… keep your end of the deal, okay?" Zoro asked, just to be sure.

The two on the outside made affirmative noises. They knew Zoro would slice their necks open without a second thought when he suspected they had been watching the whole thing.

Slowly, the cake structure started moving and Zoro moved out of the kitchen.

* * *

Sanji had been waiting patiently. He was enjoying his conversation with Nami and Robin, he really was, though the longer it went on, the more Sanji suspected they were hiding something. Furthermore, Nami was talking a little bit too much than she normally did and Sanji's loved Robin's smile, but he never trusted it completely.

About fifteen minutes into their conversation, just when Nami began over one time she and Nojiko had skipped school to go to the beach, someone knocked on the door of the living room. Sanji, unaware that there were other people present too, wondered who it was.

Nami broke off her own sentence to turn her head to the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and Luffy, Franky and Brook came in, all smiling broadly.

Sanji eyed them. They didn't look very suspicious. Brook was carrying his violin though, maybe he had played somewhere before he came to Nami's.

"Sanji-bro! SUPER happy birthday!" Franky took his standard pose and gave Sanji a big hug after. Luffy followed, his arms tangling around the blond's body and brightly laughing right into his ear. Brook came last, politely shaking hands and saying he'd like to play a song, if that would be alright with Sanji.

It didn't matter to Sanji, it was already great that so many of his friends had gathered here. A tiny voice in the back of his head asked him if this was the surprise already. Sanji ignored it. He'd wait and see what happened.

Brook just hit his first notes when the door opened again. This time, a huge cake came in, pushed by Chopper and Usopp, who only became visible after appearing next to it.

So _that_ was the surprise? Sanji's eyes were wide, he never thought his friends were capable of making such a thing.

"Wooow…"

"I see you like it." Nami winked. "We all worked on it in our own way, so this really is a team effort."

"You guys keep amazing me. Thank you." Sanji smiled.

"Wait until you see the rest!" Luffy laughed.

"The rest?"

"Let's not get ahead of things." Nami subtly hit Luffy in the head, something which Sanji didn't miss.

Robin stood and walked over to the cake to grab the top two levels. Apparently, it was easy to disconnect them from the rest, as she lifted them with much ease and turned to place it next to Sanji on a small table.

He frowned at her, but she didn't say why she did that.

Brook, who had been playing through this happening, stopped. Franky stood, together with the rest of the bunch and before Sanji knew it, they were all leaving.

"What are you-? Where are you going?" He tried to ask them.

"We promised not to look." Nami shrugged.

"Haven't you noticed that someone was missing, Sanji-san?" Brook asked him in return.

Sanji had, but he had actually figured that mosshead didn't have the time to come celebrate with them. The guy usually was that simple.

"Yes…"

"You'll understand very soon anyway. Come on, let's go." Nami dragged Luffy with her.

The last two to leave were Usopp and Chopper. "Happy birthday!" They said in unison and left the room, closing the door behind them.

Now Sanji was alone with the cake. He approached it, curious about what the rest wasn't allowed to see.

He was only a few steps away as music started playing in the background. In a distant past, Nami had told Sanji about the sound system that was built into her house and how she could operate it from every room to every room.

Sanji's feet were glued to the ground as sound became harder, playing some kind of bad pop song that nobody really liked.

Something moved.

* * *

Zoro closed his eyes one last time. This would be the moment of truth. His fingers felt if the bunny ears were still in the right position and he took his starting pose.

When the platform started to move, Zoro too came in action. He'd only check Sanji's first reaction and then he'd shut him out completely, or that was his plan. Luckily for him, Usopp and Chopper had made sure he'd come face to face with Sanji at the beginning and indeed, his expression was the greatest.

The pole itself had extended itself until the top reached the ceiling. Genius Franky was the one who made it, after all.

To begin with, Zoro was leaning with his back against the pole and one hand tangled around it. He slowly moved up and down, arching his back and straightening it again, gaining the blond's full attention. Zoro smirked, he liked the face Sanji was showing.

He went on, standing up straight and now faced the pole. Zoro stuck out his ass in Sanji's direction, nearly pushing the puffy tail in his face.

This went on for a little while, Zoro dancing to the music and Sanji staring at him. Zoro pulled out all the stops regarding his dance moves, sometimes grinding the pole, then stepping around it, going in a circle. Zoro's all-time favorite was holding the pole with one hand, leaning out with a fully stretched arm and his body rejoining the pole starting from his legs to his head.

As if it was perfectly timed, the moment Zoro had done that, the music magically stopped. Zoro stopped too, already eyeing for the bathrobe that should be somewhere in the room. He found it and immediately went for it, jumping of the structure and leaving Sanji's sight for a second.

Zoro, now more clothed than just earlier, turned only to see the rest of the gang coming again. Quickly, he grabbed the bunny ears and hid them behind his back.

No one commented on that, though they all saw it happening.

"So, Sanji, how was your little surprise?" Nami questioned cheekily.

Sanji didn't react.

"Oi, Sanji." Luffy waved in front of the blond's face. "Wake up."

He blinked once, twice and fully came to his senses again. He looked around disoriented. "What the fuck?"

"What, you didn't like my show?" Zoro mocked.

"I…" Sanji started, his cheeks turning bright red.

Zoro's smirk returned on his face. "That's good enough for me. I'm gonna change."

He left the room and right after, Chopper followed. He said he'd get Zoro back as soon as possible and the rest spoke out their trust to the little guy. He was the most reliable in these cases, especially with Zoro. And indeed, only some minutes later they were back again.

Sanji had since recovered from his show and was talking to Franky about the fake cake being a piece of art. He noticed Zoro entering and broke of his conversation.

"Oi, Zoro."

"Hmm?"

"Next time you decide to pull a stunt like that, say it in advance so I can bring my camera."

"Like hell you will."


End file.
